the strike would impact 14 port along the eastern seaboard in gulf coast, including the port of baltimore and that's where we find cnn's brian todd live. the potential impact of this is pretty big. >> reporter: it's huge, candy. right here, this is one of the most crucial ports for commerce in this region. the sieger terminal. you can see massive container ships sitting in port. this is the port terminal with the bustling operations, containers still being moved in and out of here by a truck that are being offloaded from the ships here at the terminal. about 600,000 containers move through the city of baltimore but that could all come to a grinding halt if they can't reach a deal. they move everything from our clothes to toys and electronics through the ports and into the marketplace. but a lot of those goods won't be making it to our stores if lo longshore men go on strike. if a deal can't can be reached between the shipping companies and longshore men. >> the impact would be great on the value side and cargo side. these ports are economic generators. >> richard sheer and others say the